All the Better to Meet You With
by Angelina Johnson
Summary: When Robb goes to the Tyrells' Halloween masquerade party expecting to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend, he ends up captivated by the girl dressed as Little Red Riding Hood instead. (Modern AU, Halloween meet-cute)


It's been _months _since Jeyne dumped Robb, unceremoniously breaking his heart the last night of summer vacation by telling him they needed to go on their separate ways. And he hasn't been _moping _about it, per se… But he also hasn't been taking any measures to move on.

If his best friend Theon Greyjoy is to get his way, though, then all of that is going to change tonight.

"A masquerade ball's a _perfect _chance to meet someone new, mate," Theon declares happily, as he straightens his own tuxedo. He's opted for a flashy _Bond, James Bond _kind of deal for the evening, wanting to impress as many ladies as he possibly can— his words, not Robb's. Robb's kind of started to suspect Theon's more interested in impressing his little sister Sansa, but he really, _truly_ hopes he's wrong.

Robb, on the other hand, is in a Big Bad Wolf costume, one he'd gotten when he'd assumed they'd be hosting the Starks annual haunted house on Halloween night. Instead, they're now going to this shindig at the Tyrell's that Sansa has gotten them invited to.

"Oh yeah, because the Big Bad Wolf's such a lady killer," Robb said, rolling his eyes at his friend. He's told Theon a thousand times that he's not looking to meet anyone new yet. He doesn't _do _casual, and it feels wrong, after two years with Jeyne, to want to replace her after just a two short months. He'd had _time _to maybe find a costume more like Theon's, one where he could flaunt his auburn curls and his Tully-blue eyes and maybe draw someone new's attention… but the wolf had seemed more offputting to strangers, so Robb had ultimately stuck with that.

"Hey, still better than your normal everyday look. I'd take wolf-man over sad sack anyday," Theon tells him cheekily as he adjusts his bowtie one last time and motions that it's time for them to get this show on the road.

* * *

On the way over to the Tyrells, Theon and Sansa's excitement is palpable. Robb, on the other hand, has his arms crossed over his chest, sulking about his lack of girlfriend and about how exceedingly _warm _he is inside of his wolf costume.

Theon doesn't pay Robb any mind, but Sansa does, prattling on about how thrilled she is that he might finally meet Margaery tonight. She's been dying for Robb to meet her friend for ages now; she's been dying for _everyone _to meet her friend, though, really. Sansa's a bit of a show-off like that; when she has something new and bright and shiny in her life, she wants to make sure everyone sees, and this girl has a reputation for being one of the brightest, shiniest people in all of Westeros.

Robb really doesn't see how a masquerade that the Tyrell girl is hosting is the best time to introduce him to her friend, but _whatever _. The thing that had convinced him to go wasn't Sansa and her obsession with Margaery Tyrell, anyhow.

The real reason Robb's going, the one he hasn't _dared _mention to Theon or Sansa, is that he knows Jeyne is going to be there. Unlike Theon, who sees this as a chance for Robb to move on, Robb sees it as something different.

Tonight, Robb plans to make Jeyne fall in love with him all over again.

* * *

The Tyrell's party _is _impressive. There's an air of spooky festivity everywhere he turns, the perfect blend of glamorous and gory to make it truly feel like Halloween. It's not their family's usual haunted house, but Robb supposes _it'll do _.

The biggest drawback is just how hard it is to tell who's who, though. The costumes are _great _, doing far too good of a job of masking people's identities, and it's 20 minutes in and he still hasn't caught sight of Jeyne.

He expected it would be _easy _. That his heart would just have some kind of compass inside of it that pointed him directly at her. He's starting to give up hope when a red cape catches his attention in the corner of the room, though.

Robb's gaze follows her as he realizes it's not just a cape; there's a hood that covers her cascade of curls, and she's got a basket with her. Robb doesn't have to see the parts of her face that the mask isn't hiding, because he recognizes her costume right away: Little Red Riding Hood.

It's Jeyne. It _has _to be Jeyne, because who else would fate have him in matching costumes with? The girl seems to be looking around the room, as if she's on a mission, but she pauses when her gaze falls on Robb, and his heart starts thumping insistently in his chest when she starts marching right towards him.

Robb's a bit tongue-tied; he's thought of what he'd say when he sees Jeyne again for _months _, and now it seems like the moment is finally here. She doesn't have his same hesitations, though; she has to raise her voice to be heard above the music, but she says, almost flirtatiously, "Why, grandmother, what big ears you have."

Robb chuckles instantly, although her voice doesn't _sound _like Jeyne's. It's impossible to tell with the music, though, and well… don't they say the voice is the first thing to go from your memories? Robb's mind jumps through hoops, trying to find ways to keep believing the girl before him is his lost love, because if it's not, he doesn't know _what _to think.

Their costumes _match _. She's sought him out immediately. Who else could she be?

"The better to hear you over all this noise with, my dear," Robb replies back, following her bit. Thank the _gods _that he'd opted for just a wolf mask instead of the full-headed mask he'd have had on in the haunted house. It makes it so she can _see _how bright his smile is, just for her,

Behind her mask, the girl — _ Jeyne _, he hopes — flutters her eyelashes at him and says, "Well, then. My ears aren't as equipped for hearing as yours are, my wolf; perhaps we should just dance instead."

She offers him her hand, confident in ways that Jeyne never had been when they'd first met, and Robb allows himself to be swept off onto the dance floor.

* * *

It only takes one dance for Robb to realize that the girl he's with is not, in fact, Jeyne Westerling.

He's already questioning it, from the surety in her step as she leads him through their first dance, and when the light hits her hair in a certain way, it looks a little redder than Jeyne's was, and not just because of her cape.

It's when a slower song comes on, though, and the girl stays and allows Robb to take her into his arms that he's really sure.

What's surprising to him is the way she just _fits _. He absurdly thinks that it's almost like she was made to belong in his arms, but he blames that on Theon and Sansa and all their prodding about _moving on _in Theon's case, and believing in destiny and true love in Sansa's.

When they're this close, they can actually hear each other when they talk. When she murmurs something into his ear, Robb can feel shivers go up his spine, even with the heavy wolf costume on.

He's caught up in the magic of the night, that's all. He's sure that when this dance is over, and Little Red Riding Hood disappears back into the shadows, he'll forget all about her, and thoughts of Jeyne will be back in the forefront of his mind again.

* * *

Robb's wrong, though. Of _course _Robb's wrong.

Red Riding Hood can't reach his cheek thanks to his mask, so she brushes her lips across his jaw lightly as she bids him farewell. Robb's skin is still tingling long after she's out of sight, and when he finds himself at the punch table with Sansa, he keeps craning his neck, trying to spot Little Red Riding Hood again.

She'd told him he was a most excellent dance partner, and that she wished she could stay, but she had _things _to attend to. Her mysteriousness only left him more intrigued, and that fanciful part of his brain that had thought it was _destiny _for their costumes to match, and that she'd fit perfectly against him, had wanted to volunteer to help her with her things. To follow her anywhere, really, if she'd have him.

Sansa smiles as she follows Robb's wandering gaze, a gleam in her eyes. Like she knows something that he doesn't.

He's probably reading too much into it, though. Sansa's probably just smug about the fact that Robb's _clearly _enjoying himself at the party she'd scored them invitations to after all, and he tells her to find something more fun to do than watch him as he excuses himself to do a lap around the room, trying to act casual in his pursuit of the mystery girl.

The whole time he's trying to find Red Riding Hood again, Jeyne doesn't cross his mind _once _.

* * *

Robb feels like he's looked _everywhere _on the dance floor for his mystery girl, and she's nowhere to be seen. Maybe she _hadn't _enjoyed the two dances they'd shared as much as he had. Maybe she was just exceedingly good at pretending.

His heart sinks a little at the idea that he'll never get to see her again, or even know who she'd been. It had been nice, for a few minutes, finding himself so drawn to someone who _wasn't _his ex-girlfriend for a change.

The door to the ballroom opens, and Robb's eyes are drawn to her the second she reenters. They lock eyes across the room, like she'd instantly senses his presence, too. Unthinkingly, Robb steps forward, not wanting to let her slip away again, but he's only closed half the distance when he reaches her, meeting in the middle.

"Why, grandmother, what big eyes you have," the girl teases him, the same bit from the story that she'd used on him earlier. It's just as charming the second time, and Robb grins impossibly wider.

"The better to spot you across ballrooms with, my dear," he says, and without even having to ask, her hand has slipped into his, and they're dance partners once again.

* * *

This time, Little Red Riding Hood doesn't leave him again. They don't dance the entire remainder of the ball, but she _does _stay on his arm, talking and laughing and exploring all the areas of the party.

He doesn't _have _to stay anonymous, but every time Robb goes to tell her who he is, he hesitates. She hasn't exactly offered up _her _identity, and he thinks he should just treasure the magic and mystery of the masquerade for a little bit longer.

Before he knows it, though, much of the room has emptied out, and the lights are starting to come up. The party's over, and it's now or never. Robb can take this night and remember it fondly, or he can see if she feels it too - if she thinks there's something here worth trying at again.

She beats him to it, though. Just as she's beaten him to everything all night. She's quick and she's clever and she's utterly captivating, and a lump forms in Robb's throat as she raises her hand gingerly to trace the line where his mask ends.

"Why grandmother, what a big mask you have," she improvises, winking at him from behind her own mask. Robb swallows the lump that has formed, trying to find the right words.

He doesn't have the time to find them, though. Before Robb can be unmasked, he feels a hand clap on his shoulder from behind — Theon, he assumes — and at the same time an an excitable Sansa throws her arms around Robb's mystery girl, squealing happily.

"You two know each other?" Robb says quizzically, and his sister's jaw quite literally drops.

"Seriously? How could you spend all night with her and not even ask her name?" Sansa sounds absolutely appalled. Theon is laughing in earnest at him, and Red Riding Hood is smiling that smile of hers that's started to become one of his favorite things in the world.

"Now, Sansa," Robb's mysterious dream girl giggles. "Don't be quite so hard on your brother; it was rather romantic, waiting for the grand unmasking moment at the end of the night," she teases, as she gently cups Robb's face before taking his mask off for him.

"You're even more handsome than your sister said," she tells him, and Robb is dumbfounded. Did she know who he was all this time? He still hasn't put the pieces together of who she is at all; Sansa's got so many friends. The only one she mentions more than any others is Margaery, and he highly doubts that the hostess would have had time to spare for him all night.

Robb opens and closes his mouth a few times, finally saying, "I don't..."

"Good gods, man!" Theon cuts him off with a long-suffering sigh. "Did you really have no idea you were with Margaery Tyrell all night?"

It's Robb's turn to let his jaw hang slack in surprise, especially when she peels her own mask off and it turns out she's even more beautiful than he's heard.

After the night they'd had, though, she could have been the Crone come to life and he wouldn't have cared a damned bit. He wants to know her better — wants to know everything about her, now — and he can't believe he's thinking it, but he seriously has to thank his little sister later.

* * *

Sansa, it turns out, has been wanting to set Robb and Margaery up since long before he and Jeyne had finally split. She'd boldly told Margaery her brother was _perfect_ for her; and Robb thanks his lucky stars that after just one dance, Margaery had already been inclined to agree.

"The matching costumes were a coincidence though, I swear! I didn't even know you were going as a wolf; Margaery said she just had a feeling about the Red Riding Hood costume," Sansa promises him when we laments that his new, exciting love story was orchestrated by his sister.

Sansa continues to insist, but Robb's only fifty percent sure he believes her.

* * *

One year later, the Tyrells host their annual masquerade ball again. This time, though, Robb's not someone grumbling about having to attend; he's right there at the hostess's side, looking forward to it more than almost anyone.

What he and Margaery have is no longer new, but as far as Robb is concerned, it's still an exciting love story, one that he thinks only gets more exciting with each passing day.

And this Halloween, he knows _for sure_ that his sister has nothing to do with the matching costumes, because he'd been right there at his girlfriend's side, no Sansa in sight, when she'd picked them out.


End file.
